Fake Intel Core2Duo?

[Ratman6161]

Originally posted by: aigomorla

1. There cant be fake cpu's...

Thats true with current CPU's where the bios identifies the cpu regardless of what it might actually be running at. There was a time way back when when that was not true. Example:

I bought a Pentium 166 based system (I thought) from Comtrade (you youngsters dont remember them but they were big in the day). It came out later that they had purchased cpus from a shady wholesaler who was selling Pentium 133's as 166's. Back then the cpu speed was 100% a matter of the jumper settings you set on the motherboard - and if you had a 133 overclocked to 166 there was no way to tell short of pulling the cpu and looking at what was printed on it. They made it right by replacing it with a new motherboard and an Pentium 166MMX. But this is where I discovered Overclocking because the 166MMX was soon running at 200 Mhz.

But none of that is possible anymore. If you put your new cpu in you new motherboard and set everything to auto, there is no way to hide the real cpu installed. That applies to both AMD and Intel. They could fake the packaging but not the cpu itself.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Jessica69
They're a bit shadier than newegg/ZipZoomFly/ClubIT,

Yeah, they are. Not horribly so, hence my use of the words "a bit".

PUH-LEEZE! That comment just has to be one of the stupidest ones I've heard on this board in quite a while....and that's going pretty far.

Just a hint, noobs shouldn't try insulting long-established members, especially when said noob is wrong to begin with. Besides, that isn't even much of an insult, coming from someone who's only been around for a month.:laugh: BTW, you aren't wanting to compare experiences with TigerDirect with me, I promise. My first purchase from them was in the 1980's, and they were about the only place I bought PC parts from, until awhile after newegg came on the scene, which wasn't very long ago, to those of us who measure our time buying PC parts in decades, instead of months or single-digit years.

 

[jaqie]

I'm sorry you think that the time you registered on some forum on the net has anything to do with how much you know about computers. I, like you, have been dealing with computers for decades, but unlike you I realize that people may have a life outside of forums, and that people coming in may have experience from *gasp* other sources then this forum, such as actual life! Your argument is spurious at best and downright malicious at worst. I actually happen to agree with Jessica, and have been buying from TD for as long as you, with a large purchase just a few months ago.

In short, get off your high horse and stop assuming someone's register date equates their knowledge of the computer industry.


Yes, Zap, that is what I meant, however a lot of "user level" tend to call that sort of thing fake, although it is oversimplification and technically wrong, I have long ago come to the realization that users have their own lingo which needs translated for techs and it seems to me that the term fake in this context is definitely one of them.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Ratman6161
this is where I discovered Overclocking because the 166MMX was soon running at 200 Mhz.

What?!?!? That 166MMX should have been good for 233MHz!

BTW, I did personally discover one 166MMX that was remarked as a 233MHz, in a system that a customer bought (from someone other than me) for a very good price.

 

[DeathSniper]

I got my Q9450 in plastic AMD packaging Thought it was hilarious.

 

[hooflung]

You can buy fake cpu's that report themselves as their partners. You just have to go to Taiwan or China to buy them or know someone who will import them. Socket 370 chips are still to this day made on the black market. You just don't see black market or even grey market goods on ebay as much as you used to. That being said, that is most definitely Tiger Direct which is a competent shop. They aren't Newegg but I'd use them over ZipZoomFly if TD didn't charge me tax because I live in Florida ( I hate ZZF'snew site layout. )

 

[bryanW1995]

my Q9450 came in a little box with foam padding inside it. it had a small plastic piece affixed to the bottom for protection. Funny, the microcenter price sticker on the outside of the box said "359.99". I paid $331 after tax and shipping...

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Jessica69

Originally posted by: myocardia


They're a bit shadier than newegg/ZipZoomFly/ClubIT,

PUH-LEEZE! That comment just has to be one of the stupidest ones I've heard on this board in quite a while....and that's going pretty far. TD is no shadier than any other online etailer.....maybe more honest in some ways, compared to one in particular.

True, TD had their rebate fiasco a couple of years ago and got it taken to them over it, and rightly so. But these days, TD's rebate process is one of the quickest around...probably stemming from their fiasco....

Outside of the rebate crap, TD is no better or worse than 'Egg, ZZF, or anyone else. I'd almost say TD's pricing, while sometimes not the cheapest, is at least consistent, something Newegg cannot claim with a straight face.

We're all quite familiar with NE's "dynamic pricing" software and model......yet we seem to completely forgive NE for jacking up prices, sometimes minute by minute, on highly popular items.....while other sellers keep a consistent price day-to-day.

NE's prices remind me of gas prices.....popular item has price increases quickly and dramatically.....yet are painfully slow to drop when the sales drop.


Of course, you can also contrast NE's and TD's business models....NE is online and warehouse only while TD actually has retail stores in addition to its online presence. Yep..pretty shady to me....having real stores.


As for the packaging in the ebay ad....it's an OEM product w/TD's antistatic packaging. I've purchased several OEM things from TD over the years.....and they all come in that sort of packaging. RAM, cpus, etc. What would you expect the damned tray cpu to come in......a padded envelope? Tray cpus don't have "Intel packaging" to come out of, outside of the tray itself, so TD has to pack it in something. Sounds like none of you have ever bought an OEM cpu from anyone at all.......


On, and thanks Zap.....hadn't realized Newegg had finally matched prices on Q6600 cpus with Microcenter, which has had that price now for over 2 months.......

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Newegg

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Tiger_Direct

hmm.....

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: jaqie
I'm sorry you think that the time you registered on some forum on the net has anything to do with how much you know about computers.

im guilty of this sometimes too. He doesnt know ya very well, myo is actually a great guy. Very helpful.

And if i didnt see you and ruby shoot it off, i would of thought you of a noob as well.

But after seeing you and ruby at it, umm no i pass, you'd chew me up and spit me out in a spitoon faster then i could type out superkalafragalisticxpialodoious! :X

Exactly like how ruby would.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: jaqie
Your argument is spurious at best and downright malicious at worst. I actually happen to agree with Jessica, and have been buying from TD for as long as you, with a large purchase just a few months ago.

Jaqie, my argument is less spurious than yours. I suppose you missed Mr Fox's huge post, showing you your error? If so, here's the gist of it: http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Newegg as opposed to http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Tiger_Direct

In short, get off your high horse and stop assuming someone's register date equates their knowledge of the computer industry.

You're right, in this instance. I was in a pretty pissy mood yesterday, and I apologize. BTW, don't feel bad, we all make mistakes. My post count is higher than yours, so I know all about making mistakes, since I've made more of them than you have.

 

[jaqie]

Don't assume. You assume I did not see the post on resellerratings.
I did.
I also know the people that tend to post reviews on such places... I believe I heard once that Einstein said something akin to this: "There are two things that are infinite in this reality, space and human stupidity, but I am not sure about the former".

Resellerratings is about as reliable as a PCCHIPS motherboard because of the nature of most of the reviewers there. Have you even read some of those reviews?

~edit~
And one thing I realized you may not know - when I first moved out here (raleigh, nc area) every time I went into the store, they insisted on searching my purse when I went in AND out, despite me buying a lot from them and actually helping their other customers when I saw one seemed they were a bit lost. I got sick and tired of being treated like a criminal while other women (better looking) with purses the same size as mine were being let walk right past without a single word or look. After a few months of this, I finally started creating a serious ruckus by complaining very loudly about this treatment. I talked to a staff person, a cust support person, a manager, the main store manager, and then threatened to call their regional manager about being treated like this. During all of this, the other customers were listening to me and a lot actually left with looks on their faces like "I shop HERE when they do this to people?" After most of their customers left, they finally stopped bothering me, and the next time I went in not only did they have a door guard from another company (they hire an external company for the door guard to keep themselves legally clean in case the guard does something...sueable), but I was waved right through. A few months after that they no longer had a door guard at all, and I have been treated very cordial ever since then in all of their stores (they opened a second one near here just recently).

So, yes, I have had some rather bad experiences with them as well, but it has nothing to do with them being a "shady company" and I still purchase from them quite a bit. I think others in my situation may have just decided that they were "Evil" or "shady" or whatnot, but that is just plain stupid to do. Big companies screw up, it's what they do to fix that that is important.

One additional note: I actually purchase from newegg more then tigerdirect simply because I like their pricing better and their site is easier to purchase from. I go to TD for two reasons: one, when I need something immediately, two when something is either cheaper there or not available at newegg.

 

[Jessica69]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: Jessica69
They're a bit shadier than newegg/ZipZoomFly/ClubIT,

Yeah, they are. Not horribly so, hence my use of the words "a bit".

PUH-LEEZE! That comment just has to be one of the stupidest ones I've heard on this board in quite a while....and that's going pretty far.

Just a hint, noobs shouldn't try insulting long-established members, especially when said noob is wrong to begin with. Besides, that isn't even much of an insult, coming from someone who's only been around for a month.:laugh: BTW, you aren't wanting to compare experiences with TigerDirect with me, I promise. My first purchase from them was in the 1980's, and they were about the only place I bought PC parts from, until awhile after newegg came on the scene, which wasn't very long ago, to those of us who measure our time buying PC parts in decades, instead of months or single-digit years.

Again, PUH-LEEZE. Oh, I know, post count relates entirely to experience in life and computers.....and if post count relates to stupidity, you've got stupid cornered.


OK...just a bit of history.......when you first purchased from TD in '87 or whenever (cannot be earlier than '87....TD wasn't around before then), I'd already done a tour in Vietnam, been working on computers in the military in the '70's while I was a part of the ASA, and by the '80's, had built, repaired, and sold more electronic oriented crap than you'd ever worked on or owned since then.

I built my first Intel-based system around the 8088 cpu......but played with IBM before then, and distinctly remember the horrible punch cards and tape that was endemic to those early systems......before big floppies and tape drives got computers into the home via Atari, Coleco, Tandy, and all the rest.

I bought from TD in 1990 while I was in Miami....watched NE start and struggle and have purchased from NE hundreds of times. Gladly, I don't have to purchase much from them any longer since I'm a reseller with ASI, Ingram Micro, among others.

I also remember this board with its Buy.com-Hitachi Wounded Monitor Children.....but that was a fiasco here and really made this board almost unbearable to participate in.....so I went elsewhere.

So, just because I don't have a long history here really equates to nothing.....

 

[jaqie]

Oiye, the cassette loader on my TRS-80 CoCo... bad memories.
I actually started x86 with the 8088, the 8086 was intel's IIRC (though I could be wrong on that one! memory from back then is getting foggy). I do remember that was the advent of my OCing days, took the little 7Mhz beast to 12Mhz by replacing a couple of crystal oscillators. Such fun!

Ingram Micro... I don't wanna say anything untoward, but I never liked the prices they charged in the 90s, talk about getting soaked.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Jessica69
Again, PUH-LEEZE. Oh, I know, post count relates entirely to experience in life and computers.....and if post count relates to stupidity, you've got stupid cornered.


OK...just a bit of history.......when you first purchased from TD in '87 or whenever (cannot be earlier than '87....TD wasn't around before then), I'd already done a tour in Vietnam, been working on computers in the military in the '70's while I was a part of the ASA, and by the '80's, had built, repaired, and sold more electronic oriented crap than you'd ever worked on or owned since then.

I really don't think you want to compare MENSA scores with me. BTW, if you were half as old as you're claiming to be, I'm thinking your posts wouldn't read like the notes my daughter writes to her 8th grade BFF's.

 

[Greg04]

Originally posted by: tutelary

Originally posted by: driftwood07
damn newegg has these chips for $210 with free shipping . why mess with shady e-tailers?

calling tiger-direct shady is absurd.

I bought a "new" scanner from them 3 years ago. It had greasy finger prints and human hair all over the glass. It was a refurb at best. I double checked the ad - it said NEW. They compained bitterly, but sent a "new" one. I videotaped the opening of the "NEW" UPS package. The replacement was filthy gross (i.e., not new) and the glass was broken into a million pieces. Only after I sent the videotape of opening the package to them did they refund my money. And, no apology, they simply credited me the money with not so much as an email. I will call them shady and risk being absurd. They are shady.

 

[rge]

Originally posted by: Jessica69

Originally posted by: myocardia


They're a bit shadier than newegg/ZipZoomFly/ClubIT,

PUH-LEEZE! That comment just has to be one of the stupidest ones I've heard on this board in quite a while....and that's going pretty far.

You mean, he should have said, tigerdirect is a lot shadier than newegg/ZipZoomFly/ClubIT?

Besides buying an advertised new 8800GTX OC watercooled video card, to be shipped an out of box, not working, not overclocked, parts missing, look used and returned video card from tigerdirect, and then having to fight for two weeks to return it, despite there supposed 30 day policy, just read their reviews. At least 2 out of 5 reviews at review sites are not only negative about tigerdirect, but they repeatedly describe deceptive business practices.

One positive post might be a lucky customer or one of the paid shills to promote companies (many have them) or one negative post might be an unlucky customer. But 30% posts that describe horrid customer service, and deceptive business practices...is hardly a store I would compare with newegg, ZipZoomFly, or ClubIT.

Originally posted by: jaqie

I also know the people that tend to post reviews on such places... I believe I heard once that Einstein said something akin to this: "There are two things that are infinite in this reality, space and human stupidity, but I am not sure about the former".

Resellerratings is about as reliable as a PCCHIPS motherboard because of the nature of most of the reviewers there. Have you even read some of those reviews?

So are you saying that tigerdirect negative reviews are because people are stupid, and not because tigerdirect has unfair business practices?

But isn't it amazing those same stupid people seem to give newegg a very high rating?

Or are you saying that only stupid people buy from tigerdirect? Hence the reviews for them are from stupid people?

 

[jaqie]

This is starting to look more and more like their internet site purchasers (most people here other then me) get a very different experience then those buying mostly in their store... That may actually be the thin and the thick of it right there. How about a head count or something similar, saying whether you bought only online, only from their brick & mortar stores, or some combination?

Myself, I have bought most of my purchases from them in the last three to four years (I actually have lost track of the exact time I moved to NC, it has been three to four years, their first Raleigh outlet was pretty new when I moved here) at their b&m stores, only buying things online from them every blue moon.

 

[jaqie]

grrr, editing your post as I make a response to someone else!

Originally posted by: rge
So are you saying that tigerdirect negative reviews are because people are stupid, and not because tigerdirect has unfair business practices?
Or are you saying that only stupid people buy from tigerdirect? Hence the reviews for them are from stupid people?

Neither. I am saying just what I said, that they cannot be trusted as the end-all and be-all, and can be pretty random.

Go check out any random newegg product review, as well, if you have any doubts as to what I am saying.

 

[rge]

Originally posted by: jaqie
grrr, editing your post as I make a response to someone else!

Originally posted by: rge
So are you saying that tigerdirect negative reviews are because people are stupid, and not because tigerdirect has unfair business practices?
Or are you saying that only stupid people buy from tigerdirect? Hence the reviews for them are from stupid people?

Neither. I am saying just what I said, that they cannot be trusted as the end-all and be-all, and can be pretty random.

Go check out any random newegg product review, as well, if you have any doubts as to what I am saying.

Random is a mathematical term. Randomness would necessarily dictate a statistically large swing from year to year in overall customer ratings, and would necessitate over time tigerdirect getting a more favorable rating over newegg.

In other words if random played a significant role, newegg would get 70% one year, 90% next, etc, as would tigerdirect.

But year after year newegg gets the same statistically high ratings, and year after year tigerdirect gets same much lower ratings. Randomness can be mathematically eliminated with a high degree of certainty.



But your comment on online vs store to me is no doubt correct. People are much less apt to screw a person face to face than over the internet. My purchase was certainly over the net.

 

[imported_sandman]

The chip on e-bay new egg has for 199.00 free shipping retail

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: driftwood07
damn newegg has these chips for $210 with free shipping . why mess with shady e-tailers?

I bet said shady etailer doesnt even order his unit until someone buys it...

1. Person buys item from shady ebayer.
2. Shady ebayer buys item from real etailer.
3. Shady etailer gets item in mail and sends it to sucker.

with a few rare exceptions (batteries, phone parts, etc, made in china and compatible with the real stuff but costs next to nothing) the stuff on ebay costs MORE then buying it new from an etailer. Even some used stuff costs more then the cheapest etailer costs.
I use ebay primarily to sell, not to buy.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: jaqie
This is starting to look more and more like their internet site purchasers (most people here other then me) get a very different experience then those buying mostly in their store... That may actually be the thin and the thick of it right there. How about a head count or something similar, saying whether you bought only online, only from their brick & mortar stores, or some combination?

Ahh, why didn't I think of that? You've shopped mostly (or totally?) in their B&M's, while the rest of us have bought through either their mail order (before they had an online presence), or their website. I can see two people having totally different experiences, when one buys from the B&M, and the other doesn't. It's all starting to make sense now...

 

[jaqie]

Mostly, and least in the last four years, solely.
Perhaps I just got lucky when buying before I was close to a B&M of theirs, I dunno, but I never really had a problem with them, and when I did, a quick phone call always fixed it.

 

[myocardia]

Well, Jaqie, alot of us, at least the ones who have replied in this thread, were nowhere near as lucky as you have been. Let me say this, though: when there were no problems with the products, TD was as good as any other e-tailer. The problems, at least for me, came when I required a return/RMA.

The last time I purchased anything from them was the worst. I had them cross ship the new item (a video card), which of course they charge you for the new item, but are supposed to refund that, when the DOA item arrives. After 3 or 4 weeks, and many phone calls, I finally had to call my credit card company, to dispute the charges. This was after I had even e-mailed, and sent by certified letter, a copy of the return receipt from the package they had received. Luckily for me, I had insured the package, with delivery confirmation, like all packages that I send. If I hadn't done so, I would have had to pay for two ~$200 video cards, even though I no longer even had the DOA one to be able to RMA through the manufacturer.

Also, like I said about 7 or 8 posts ago, they aren't the worst. They just don't compete with the top-tier companies, at least in my opinion. Of course, it seems to me as if I'm not the only one who shares my opinion of them, as both this thread, and resellerratings.com seem to reflect. And while I agree with you about the "quality" of some of the ratings on that site, obviously not everyone who posts there is either a moron or a shill.

 

[jaqie]

That's another big difference, I will and would never cross-ship an RMA to any company, as it opens me up to being taken like that either by an honest mistake or more nefarious hearts, but at least you had it insured and delivery confirmed. When I have had issues with their items, I would call and talk to someone (at TD) until I got an RMA, and then ship it the same way you did (minus cross-ship) - and never had issues... but most of the things I RMA I send directly back to the OEM - that is the biggest difference here, I think.